12 volunteers from Maersk Training in Newcastle are to take part in a mental and physical challenge as they prepare to spend 24 hours in a survival life raft at sea to raise funds for the Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI).

The volunteers from across the company, including Stuart Cameron, managing director at Maersk Training in Newcastle, will enter the life raft at 8:00am on Saturday 22nd of August and will remain inside until 8:00am on the 23rd of August, in the hope of raising £2,000 for the charity.

The life raft will be anchored just off Tynemouth, Longsands next to the Lifeguard Station. The volunteers will have only the normal provisions that would be found aboard and will have to stay within the raft for the full 24 hours. A live webcam will be streaming the event and the volunteers will be posting live tweets and Facebook posts throughout the challenge.

Tony Greener, maritime business development manager at Maersk Training who will also be taking part in the Life Raft Challenge said, “The RNLI is the charity that saves lives at sea, providing an on call 24-hour lifeboat search and rescue service around the UK and Ireland, and a seasonal lifeguard service. Taking part in fundraising such as the Life Raft Challenge means that the lifeboat crews can continue to reunite the 22 people they rescue each day with their families.”

Stuart Cameron said, “The RNLI is a charity that is very close to the heart for many people at Maersk Training. With 92% of the total income for the charity coming from donations and legacies, we are thrilled to be doing our bit to raise money and awareness for the amazing work the RNLI volunteers do.”

David Stenhouse, lifeboat operations manager at Tynemouth RNLI added, “Support from maritime companies like Maersk Training is very much appreciated. Two of the volunteers taking part in the challenge are actually serving lifeboat crew members here so they will see the benefit at first hand as all funds raised help to provide vital crew training and equipment for our volunteers.”